What is the meaning of pull in one's horns?

Make a retreat from an earlier commitment or activity.
- usage: "We'll have to crawfish out from meeting with him"; "He backed out of his earlier promise"; "The aggressive investment company pulled in its horns"
- synonyms: retreat, pull back, back out, back away, crawfish, crawfish out, withdraw

|15 years ago|657 views|share |citing

APA	WordNet. (2010). pull in one's horns. Retrieved September 24, 2026, from http://smartdefine.org/pull_in_one%27s_horns/definitions/1304628
Chicago	WordNet. 2010. "pull in one's horns" http://smartdefine.org/pull_in_one%27s_horns/definitions/1304628 (accessed September 24, 2026).
Harvard	WordNet 2010, pull in one's horns, Smart Define, viewed 24 September, 2026, <http://smartdefine.org/pull_in_one%27s_horns/definitions/1304628>.
MLA	WordNet. "pull in one's horns" 23 October 2010. Web. 24 September 2026. <http://smartdefine.org/pull_in_one%27s_horns/definitions/1304628>

Definition by